After Prison
by Zasterfate
Summary: Episode: Killer In High Heels 4x04. Jane takes Maura home after she's released from jail. Oneshot. Rizzles.


A/N: If I write, maybe all this pain will stop.

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Jane looked as small as Bass whenever he had shrunken back into his shell. That's what Maura thought when she was released from Jail, finally out of that orange jumpsuit and saw her best friend who looked guilty and angry and ready to fall apart.

Maura had changed into the clothes she'd been arrested in, a gray and white blouse and her black yoga pants.

Jane hurried towards Maura, removing her blazer in the process and draping it around her shoulders while simultaneously pulling the smaller woman into her arms, into her chest, into her whole body, not caring if she crushed her because Jesus, Jane just needed to feel Maura, feel her warmth, and feel that she was free and safe.

"I was scared," Jane whispered, and she meant it. Nothing in her entire life frightened her more than being the one to handcuff Maura, to send her into such a dangerous environment, to have no way of truly protecting her.

So many things could have gone wrong, and why? Because Jane left Maura at that stupid charity event with a stupid guy who did a stupid thing. What if he had killed her rather than framed her?

Just imagining the doctors performing a rape kit on Maura made Jane want to punch a wall, definitely punch Tucker Franklin's face in, hell, even punch whoever it was that gave Maura that nasty bruise on her face.

"I'm never letting another male specimen next to you again."

Maura would smile if she could, but she just shut her eyes, relieved to be free of all charges and it was a nicer welcome than she had anticipated being embraced by Jane.

For a moment, when she walked through the holding area, she half expected the entire Rizzoli clan to greet her as well as a select few colleagues, but instead, it was just Jane. All alone, like something fierce and fragile, but rigidly still.

When they pulled apart, ending the hug, Jane slid her arm across the small of Maura's back, bringing the doctor into her side.

"Just take me home," Maura requested, resting her head against Jane who was happy to do just that.

"Of course, and what about dinner? I got my thousand bucks back so you can have as much fancy wine as you want. I'll even throw in Wolfgang Puck himself for the night."

Maura choked back a laugh, burying her face further into Jane's chest. "I think I won't be drinking for quite some time."

"Pizza? Takeout? One of my world famous grilled cheeses?" Jane asked in an extravagant tone, trying damn hard to keep Maura smiling as she opened the passenger door to her car, gently helping Maura inside.

Once locking the door, she remained there, staring at the blonde, fighting back so many emotions.

Jane had faced lot as a detective, yet even on the day Hoyt had her and Maura restrained, she wasn't so petrified. Back then she was able to see the danger Maura was in and completely turn the tables with sheer physical strength and determination. But Maura in jail…with so much evidence against her, and knowing with every fiber of her being that the M.E. was innocent, that took mental and emotional willpower Jane didn't think she possessed.

Not to mention, the moment she learned that someone had struck Maura, the nicest, sweetest, most giving person in the world, Jane wanted to rip off her badge, toss it out the door and bolt herself inside that cell with Maura. She wanted to personally and very aggressively interrogate each and every woman in there at gunpoint while Maura watched her and knew that someone was willing to wage a war for her. Then when she found out exactly which soul had dared lay a hand on Maura, she wanted to commit the very same act she was employed to investigate and prevent.

Maura couldn't help but notice how white Jane's knuckles had become around the steering wheel. She knew Jane was angry, but it looked like she was working herself into some kind of frenzy, eyes glued to the road ahead as she drove.

"I'm fine, Jane, really," Maura said, but Jane refused to acknowledge the lie Maura was attempting to make herself believe. Jane refused to glance at Maura again because if she did, she'd see that damn black eye. Jane refused to speak before they arrived at Maura's house because she'd probably drive right into another car with how distracting her thoughts were.

Angela was spending the night at Jane's apartment as per the detective's orders.

Her mother might have done the moral thing, the right thing, the thing that Jane would have never been able to do, but Jane was still pissed. She knew she'd forgive her soon because it was her mother and Maura was proven innocent, but there was still principle.

You don't go behind your daughter's back and you don't give her boss evidence against her best friend. Christ, you don't give evidence about the woman whose home you live in, who took you in at your lowest point! You just don't do that. They were Italian's for God's sake, family first.

Jane may be a cop, but she was still a Rizzoli and Maura was just as good as.

When they entered through the front, Jane locked the door behind her as Maura flicked on the lights and hung Jane's blazer on a coat rack. Both of them became idle, not sure where to go from there.

"I have to feed Bass," Maura murmured matter-of-factly.

"I'll feed your turtle, go sit," Jane offered, bracing against the door, silently pleading for Maura to correct her, but when she didn't, when she simply moved towards the couch, Jane's eyes watered, then screwed shut, tears trailing down her cheek.

"Tortoise," Jane whispered to herself.

She went to the kitchen and searched through Maura's fridge, finding a box of raspberries. Her gaze stopped on the six-pack of beer. Next to it was a bottle of chocolate milk that Jane had convinced Maura to get for her on an impromptu snack run at the supermarket and next to that was Jane's favorite brand of pancake syrup, then there was the package of American cheese slices Jane liked.

She closed the fridge and looked around the kitchen. In Maura's fruit platter were bananas. Maura wasn't partial to the fruit, but she kept them for Jane's sake. In the food pantry was marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, a box of cereal…all processed foods Maura would never approve of.

In Maura's cupboard, Jane knew she'd find her special brand of instant coffee, white sugar, and waffle batter.

It wasn't a stark epiphany or a sudden realization, it was more of an understanding that crept up on Jane. She'd been so frightened of losing this with Maura. Losing the person who accepted her bad habits. Who indulged her, who went out her way to please her. That's what Maura had done from the beginning of their relationship.

Maura had given so much to her, enriched her life in so many ways, showed her a different world and tried to make her feel comfortable in it.

Maura was an enormous giver. The word rang through her mind. Was Jane a giver? She tried to be, but then she became enraged and she didn't know why. Jane couldn't comprehend the depth of feelings that she was suddenly exploring all alone in Maura's kitchen.

And if Jane was alone, then Maura was alone and that wasn't right.

Jane hastened to feed Bass, then went back into the living room.

Maura was sitting there, remote in hand, but the TV off. When she saw Jane had returned, she smiled and quickly clicked the power button.

"Turn it off," Jane rasped, her voice cracking.

Maura's jaw clenched. She wasn't sure what to make of Jane's demand, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

"Turn it off and look at me."

When Maura still didn't, Jane knew there was no way of avoiding the closeness she wasn't prepared for. But she stepped in front of Maura, holding out her hand. The remote was relinquished, the doctor's jaw a little bit slack.

Once Jane turned off the TV, she chucked the remote onto the nearby armchair.

Maura's gaze was fixed on Jane's belt, refusing to meet the detective's stare which forced Jane to get on her knees in front of the other woman.

Jane took hold of Maura's left arm and rolled up the sleeve. There it was. The angry welt that made Jane see red. She blinked rapidly and it wasn't until Maura felt steady droplets hitting her skin that her eyes finally snapped to Jane's face.

The brunette was trembling. Maybe these drops would wash away the pain, Jane thought. Maybe they'd cleanse Maura and bring back the bits of innocence that over the years had been stolen from her.

Maura, who grew up with adoptive parents who kept her at arm's length. Maura, whose first love, Garrett had turned out to be nothing more than a murderer who killed his own half-brother for money. Maura, who'd fallen for that psychopath "release your inner winner & win" Dennis Rockmond. Maura, whose biological father was a mob boss…whose mother believed she was dead, and who made her think she was evil. Who had a sister that made her feel more estranged than ever before.

All the strangers of the world seemed bent on targeting this good, pure, special woman whose life was dedicated to helping others.

"Jane, I'm fine, please," Maura whimpered, her own emotions getting the best of her.

Jane had been so patient, so strong, so faithful and the one person who kept reminding Maura that she wasn't the bad person, that she wasn't a criminal. That she didn't kill that man, even when she had thought maybe she did.

That sort of trust, it was rare. It was a loyalty she'd never known and witnessing it firsthand from Jane seemed sacred in a sense.

Maura used her free hand to reach down and wipe away Jane's tears. In return, Jane reached up and did the same for Maura, both of them knowing they were tiptoeing at the very edge of a boundary they had never meant to cross.

It was just that maybe Jane found something with Maura that she had never found with anyone else. More than love and more than happiness. It was a home. It was shelter. It was safety and warmth and all that made Jane careless to the fact that this was her best friend.

They'd always be best friends, but there was something more between them.

A pull. An invisible tie that kept them together. Jane put her trust in that, in something she didn't think she'd ever see, but was willing to accept if only she could feel.

Her hand strayed to the hem of Maura's blouse, gripping and gathering the cloth between her fingers.

Though it was Jane who initiated the urge, Maura was the one to pull her shirt over her head.

Maura wasn't sure what Jane was ready to do, and she wasn't sure how long the detective had wanted this, but she only knew that she'd never felt more thrilled than when Jane began tugging at the tights, slowly dragging them down Maura's legs until the doctor was left in nothing but her bra and panty set.

Jane's hands slid up and down Maura's bare arms, then sitting up on her knees, she pressed her lips to each bruise.

It was Maura who sought Jane's mouth, but the brunette pulled back, taking a delicate hold of Maura's face so she could stare at the damage done there.

Maura almost smiled when Jane huffed, her chest heaving a little more than usual.

"Give me a name, a description, anything."

"Jane," Maura sighed as the detective pressed a slow kiss just beneath her eye.

"Fine," Jane grumbled and with her hands firm on the blonde's waist, she guided Maura off the couch and onto the floor with her, setting Maura in her lap so she could cradle the doctor into herself.

Jane's lips kept returning to each bruise and as aroused as Maura had become, she'd couldn't help enjoying the unusual sense of comfort she felt in being so intimate with Jane.

The very same Jane who hated talking or displaying her emotions, who grimaced at anything touchy feely, and who she never would have guessed to be the one to shower her with so much affection.

But then again, Maura wasn't a guesser and she was glad for that, because it made Jane's actions so much more.

Jane shifted to lay on her back, bringing Maura down on top of her in a sort of cuddle and the two wrapped their arms around one another and settled into a comfortable position despite the fact that they were on the living room floor, in the narrow space between the couch and table.

"I know I don't say it enough, maybe it's because you're such a permanent fixture in my life, but having you there…in a place I knew I could lose you," Jane's voice cracked for the second time and Maura gripped her chin and forced the brunette to meet her gaze.

Jane's mouth parted and she was at a loss. There she was with a half-naked Maura in her arms and all she wanted to do was snuggle and explain the millions of things she was feeling. This wasn't the Jane Rizzoli she expected to be that night, but Maura was delighted by it. She didn't feel stifled by the new progression from friendship to whatever territory they were getting into.

So she kissed Jane's cheek and sighed. Jane might be tough as nails and strong when it was necessary, but Maura liked the brunette with her guard down and eyes so full of promise.

"Jane, would you like to have dinner with me after work tomorrow?"

The detective shook with laughter and her arms tightened around Maura. This was not how Jane imagined it, but she never felt more at ease being asked out by another woman or another person for that matter.

"Are you asking me on a date, Doctor Isles?"

"Only if you say yes." Maura smiled into Jane's neck.

"Maybe." Jane grinned, closing her eyes.


End file.
